Literacy

LITERACY STATEMENT

Aiming High Together

Intent
At Lowton West Primary School we believe that a quality English curriculum should develop children’s love of reading, writing and spoken language. We aim to inspire an appreciation of our rich and varied literary heritage and a habit of reading widely and often. We recognise the importance of creating a culture where children take pride in their writing, can write clearly and accurately and adapt their language and style for a range text in a variety of contexts. We want to inspire children to be confident in the art of speaking and listening and who can use discussion to develop their love of learning. We believe that a thorough grasp of basic literacy skills is crucial when producing a high quality education which will give our children the tools they need to participate fully as a member of society.

Implementation
These aims are embedded across our Literacy lessons and the wider curriculum. We have a rigorous and well organised English curriculum that provides many purposeful opportunities for reading, writing and discussion. We use a wide variety of quality texts and resources to motivate and inspire our children. We also provide a wealth of enrichment opportunities, through our well-planned curriculum and visits/ visitors throughout the year, in order for pupils to develop their wider language and literacy skills. Our curriculum closely follows the National Curriculum for English, 2014.

The National Curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:

• read easily, fluently and with good understanding
• develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and for information.
• acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language.
• appreciate our rich and varied literacy heritage.
• write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences.
• use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding of ideas.
• are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating their understanding to others and partaking in debate.

The teaching of reading is central to our English curriculum. Through the Literacy Spine, we ensure that all our children experience a rich diet of stories, books and digital texts which inspire and motivate or children to really enjoy reading.

In Key Stage One, pupils are taught phonics through the Read, Write Inc programme. Pupils develop their fluency in reading through Guided Reading and 1:1 reading opportunities with teachers and teaching assistants. Handwriting is taught daily through explicit teacher modelling of letter formation and the cursive style. The practising of Common Exception Words/ spelling rules also occurs in the context of handwriting lessons, once children are competent in the correct letter formation.

The English curriculum is regularly delivered through book led topics. Reading complete stories and novels is central to the lessons planned. In addition to the school reading scheme and class libraries, pupils are able to select books from the Infant and Junior libraries. Writing lessons are regularly linked to class books, digital texts and topic themes.

Impact
As a result of the carefully planned English curriculum, we have a community of enthusiastic writers and fluent readers who enjoy showcasing their developing Literacy skills. They are confident to take risks in their reading and writing, and love to discuss and share their ideas.

Files to Download